As you may know we have been working for some time on Capitol Hill to raise awareness and increase research funding. Last Thursday (April 29) a Resolution we drafted was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives in support of IBS and FGIDs research and awareness. Now we need everyone interested to write to their House Member and ask them to support H. Res. 1309. Details are on our web page at http://www.iffgd.org/site/advocacy/legislative-alerts/action#natlres. We'd appreciate it if you could help us spread the word.

I'm at DDW all week. Hope you are doing well.

Thanks,

Bill

I am not a doctor. All information I present is for educational purposes only and should not be subsituted for the advise of a qualified health care provider.

Please make sure you have your symptoms diagnosed by a medical practitioner or a doctor.

Thank you Joan, I seriously hope others will do the same, so far I posted this on three IBS BB's and your the third person to do send one. I can't stress how really important this is and how much it can help, bring about awreness and more funding for research and help.

Please write to your representives, ITS REALLY IMPORTANT and you can make a difference.I am not a doctor. All information I present is for educational purposes only and should not be subsituted for the advise of a qualified health care provider.

Please make sure you have your symptoms diagnosed by a medical practitioner or a doctor.

I hope others keep up the prssure on your representitives, so more arwareness and research is done for IBS. Again, This is really important and YOU& can make a difference.I am not a doctor. All information I present is for educational purposes only and should not be subsituted for the advise of a qualified health care provider.

Please make sure you have your symptoms diagnosed by a medical practitioner or a doctor.

I hope 148 people have done this. Please keep the pressure up for more research and awareness through your representitives.I am not a doctor. All information I present is for educational purposes only and should not be subsituted for the advise of a qualified health care provider.

Please make sure you have your symptoms diagnosed by a medical practitioner or a doctor.

Hello to all. Shawn, you know me from other forums and chats, and some others may recognize me as well under a few different user names. I have had IBS for about 2 1/2 years. (probably low level PI, formerly pain predominant, sort of A/M, now not particularly anything predominant, but many GI and related non-GI symptoms daily no matter what I've done, which is almost everything reputable currently in existence.)

Anyway, I've browsed here occasionally but decided to register and post today to bump up this thread for more visibility and add to Shawn's comments. He is right, it really is very important for those of us with IBS and people without IBS who support us to speak out. As a person with many years of personal and professional experience pre-IBS in health and disability advocacy and related issues, I can say that IBS has a lot less in terms of almost everything compared to other common conditions, and some pretty obscure ones too: awareness, funding, reliably effective treatments without going through tons of trial and error, local medical professionals and facilities in every area that really understand them, community support services, research, support from the general public, etc. And I live in a major metropolitan area and know how to navigate the system. A lot of the time IBSers haven't been as organized as other groups in speaking out, and we don't get many really good opportunities often either. But this House Resolution is a major one that we shouldn't let slip away.

If you're a U.S. citizen, please write your Representative and ask him or her to support H. Res. 1309. Use your real name and contact information. Tell a bit of your experiences with IBS. It doesn't have to be a perfect letter, but it should show that you and the rest of us are many, many real people with real needs. Please also consider asking any relatives, friends, coworkers, classmates, Facebook friends, whoever has been supportive of you in your IBS struggles to write their Representatives as well, or at least pass the word. Some of them may do so. Some of them may not, but in any case, by asking, you will raise awareness among people without IBS.

If your Representative is already one of the sponsors (They're listed on the page Shawn linked), please consider writing to say thank you. If you've already written and your Representative doesn't sign on soon, consider writing again and telling a different part of your story to educate him/her on IBS, not as it is in the textbooks, but as we live it. Advocacy is how things get done in this country. The resolution is making progress, but there's a long way to go.

Bumping this up from the bottom of page 2 because I haven't seen much action on this lately and as far as I know, it's still at 8 Representatives. (initial sponsor and 7 co-sponsors) A simple majority is 219! It's still important to write and to call and let Congress know we want and need this. It will not happen by itself.

An influential Representative from NY has signed on. We're now up to 11 total from 7 states and Washington, DC. If your Representative is one of them, please say thank you. If your Representative is not one of them, please write or call for his or her support, and if you've done it already a while ago, and nothing has happened, consider doing it again. Persistence works, and this is very important for all IBSers.

Congress is on recess from Monday August 9 to Labor Day in the US. This means they will be back in their local districts. It would probably be a good time to write, call, or visit local offices too, or attend any public meetings they might hold locally. Let our legislators and the general public hear about H. Res 1309 and IBS.

The only reason I know 95% of the stuff I do about IBS is because I took the initiative, made connections and now know where to look and whom to ask for reputable information. Under the circumstances, we can't really expect non-IBSers to understand the problems unless we are willing to take the time to tell them.

Bumping this up from page 3. Congress goes back in session on Monday September 13. Asking your Representatives for support and spreading awareness with non-IBSers who are or may be supportive of the cause is very important. This is one of the most concrete things any U.S. citizen can do toward a better future for all IBSers. If you have not already, please do so. If you did so a while ago and your Representative has not responded, try again.

Incidentally, next week is also National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week whereby the sponsor is encouraging bloggers with invisible illnesses to blog about them. How about it?